As a publisher and internet marketer I subscribe to a lot of newsletters. I like reading and I like learning, especially from my peers. Periodically I get something that I think is exceptionally profound, something I feel is worth passing on to you. I got one today. It's from Glenn Livingston of How to Double Your Business … I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and I hope you “get it ... here in Glenn's own words:
“…Does the news, the economy, or anything else in your business have you frightened?
A few miles from our house is a gorgeous farm. Miles and miles of apple orchards. While I was there with Sharon she told me a horrible story. Apparently she was there the day before and was on line behind this man and his wife.
The man was relentlessly chastising his wife for putting too many apples in the shopping bag. She was "irresponsibly spending money", and he just wouldn't let up.
It was humiliating for Sharon to witness ...
I can only imagine what it was like for the woman. In the end, she sheepishly took the apples out of the bag, probably saving $1.52 from the total tab.
$1.52!
Now here's the thing, ... they were APPLES.
NOT five hundred dollar gold-string purses, or even $30 sirloin steaks ... but big,
gorgeous, incredibly nutritious apples ... A high water food filled with macro-nutrients,
vitamins, and fiber.
Brilliant, shiny, healthy, energy bursting, life giving (incredibly inexpensive) APPLES!
But this guy couldn't see that. He didn't realize that the 15 other items in his cart had
10x less nutrition and cost 20x as much. (BTW - a friend of mine who was a VP at a major snack-bar manufacturing company told me their key marketing insight was taking the vitamins
OUT of the bars ... it made them taste better and they could FAKE the perception of nutrition using packaging instead)
But the man on the apple line let his economic fear ... the fear running rampant in the news these days ... he let his fear turn into MEAN.
And that's just a "big bowl of wrong"
Other people let their fear turn into panic, ... Their panic turns to desperation ...
And their desperation turns to impulsive (usually destructive) action.
You know what?
That guy should have put MORE apples in his cart, and kissed his wife for looking out for him.
Now, the person who thinks this story was just about apples is missing the boat.
The question we need to ask ourselves (especially now) is HOW IS FEAR SQUELCHING MY LIFE?
While I'm busy obsessing about the economy, my finances, panicking about what to cut back on ... WHO is trying to feed me life giving, positive feelings/nutrition/advice,
etc?
Now I'm NOT suggesting we all deny what's happening around us and go into a manic or delusional frenzy.
What I AM saying is ...
Who's putting apples in your bag?
Something to think about."
Monday
Koi Dragon
Recently I stopped in at the local pond shop and chatted with the owner for a few minutes. Geoff did not have much time to just chat as he was getting ready to visit a prospect – a possible future client who wanted to put in a pond on their property, likely as not, in the backyard. Business is booming and Geoff has had to take on additional staff.
Most ponds, he tells me are not much larger than say a bathroom and usually have a fountain or waterfall feature. The sound of water is soothing. But the bigger ponds, which are increasingly in greater demand these days, want another feature – a bit of depth and space for a collection of koi. The space so that the fish can grow, the depth so that it is too deep for a heron to stand in the water and help himself to an instant a serving of the freshest of sashimi!
The koi is a noble and most revered fish and has long been celebrated as a symbol of success. We know it as carp. In Japan where I grew up the fish enjoys national status and in the spring, during the festival of the child, Japanese households string up kite like koi on a flagpole – one for every child in the household, blue scaled koi means it’s a boy, red scaled koi means it’s a girl. They actually look like those socks that weather stations and small airports put up to see which way the wind is blowing.
Legend has it that the koi is the only fish strong enough to swim against the currents of the Yangtze River and that it swims upstream until the first waterfall, where the fish vaults into the mist and transforms into a water-dragon, a symbol of great luck and golden fortune.
What I find fascinating is that the koi is not your ordinary fish. It does not swim with the current and so does not get caught up with the mainstream masses. It is noble and swims against the current of mediocrity. For its reward it becomes a dragon – the most powerful of creatures in Chinese mythology. The koi is symbolic of bravery, strength, willpower, patience and grace. Is it any wonder that it is both admired and revered. I think that the readers of AppleSeeds are Koi Dragon!
Most ponds, he tells me are not much larger than say a bathroom and usually have a fountain or waterfall feature. The sound of water is soothing. But the bigger ponds, which are increasingly in greater demand these days, want another feature – a bit of depth and space for a collection of koi. The space so that the fish can grow, the depth so that it is too deep for a heron to stand in the water and help himself to an instant a serving of the freshest of sashimi!
The koi is a noble and most revered fish and has long been celebrated as a symbol of success. We know it as carp. In Japan where I grew up the fish enjoys national status and in the spring, during the festival of the child, Japanese households string up kite like koi on a flagpole – one for every child in the household, blue scaled koi means it’s a boy, red scaled koi means it’s a girl. They actually look like those socks that weather stations and small airports put up to see which way the wind is blowing.
Legend has it that the koi is the only fish strong enough to swim against the currents of the Yangtze River and that it swims upstream until the first waterfall, where the fish vaults into the mist and transforms into a water-dragon, a symbol of great luck and golden fortune.
What I find fascinating is that the koi is not your ordinary fish. It does not swim with the current and so does not get caught up with the mainstream masses. It is noble and swims against the current of mediocrity. For its reward it becomes a dragon – the most powerful of creatures in Chinese mythology. The koi is symbolic of bravery, strength, willpower, patience and grace. Is it any wonder that it is both admired and revered. I think that the readers of AppleSeeds are Koi Dragon!
Saturday
SweetStacks
In keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit of this blog, we have two awards: the Golden Apple for achievement and the Apple Seedling for startup. Today, I want to recognize Elaine Babauto for taking the first step and launching a business that is positioned to succeed. The first Apple Seedling Award goes to Elaine Babauta, President of Sweetstacks.
I met Elaine just over a year ago. We sat next to each other, hungrily taking in valued information and speedily taking notes; notes, that I hoped I would later be able to decipher. I didn’t quite get something and leaned over to look at her notes, and that is how Elaine and I got to know each other.
We were attending Guerrilla Business School in Los Angeles. Each of us had a fledgling business and we were there to up the ante toward its success. We spent some time during break to talk about what our businesses were and she impressed me tremendously. It wasn’t just her warm personality, or the sparkle in her eyes when she spoke, it was her laser like focus and the passion with which she spoke of her business which was as yet to be launched. We stayed in touch. She has since launched that business. It is successful. It is called Sweestacks. Here in her own words:
“SweetStacks uses the homemade, Pacific Islander recipes that have been in our family for generations to make delicious gourmet pancakes and scrumptious desserts. The SweetStacks Company has been built on the values, support and love of a close-knit family rich in Pacific island culture. From generation to generation, our family heritage has focused on building and cherishing family relationships. We also love to eat! When our family gets together we cook and eat delicious food, we laugh and have fun, and we enjoy and cherish each other’s company!
SweetStacks makes decadent, great tasting comfort foods: gourmet pancakes and fine Pacific Islander desserts from our secret family recipes. Our mission and passion is to provide our clients with authentic, high quality, great tasting, rich gourmet food products as well as provide excellent client service. It is our hope that they will enjoy our rich foods and then build their family traditions around our treasured sweetness.”
Elaine Babauta, left the corporate world after 20 years of service to finally become an entrepreneur in pursuing the dream of packaging her family’s Pacific Islander recipes that have been passed down through the generations and be able to share with others. Her mother, father, siblings and nieces and nephews are all actively involved in the company. For having taken a seed and nurtured it to fruition, we give the Seedling Award to Elaine. We wish the seedling to grow, produce more and develop into an orchard.
Order your own Sweetstacks! for your next family get together.
I met Elaine just over a year ago. We sat next to each other, hungrily taking in valued information and speedily taking notes; notes, that I hoped I would later be able to decipher. I didn’t quite get something and leaned over to look at her notes, and that is how Elaine and I got to know each other.
We were attending Guerrilla Business School in Los Angeles. Each of us had a fledgling business and we were there to up the ante toward its success. We spent some time during break to talk about what our businesses were and she impressed me tremendously. It wasn’t just her warm personality, or the sparkle in her eyes when she spoke, it was her laser like focus and the passion with which she spoke of her business which was as yet to be launched. We stayed in touch. She has since launched that business. It is successful. It is called Sweestacks. Here in her own words:
“SweetStacks uses the homemade, Pacific Islander recipes that have been in our family for generations to make delicious gourmet pancakes and scrumptious desserts. The SweetStacks Company has been built on the values, support and love of a close-knit family rich in Pacific island culture. From generation to generation, our family heritage has focused on building and cherishing family relationships. We also love to eat! When our family gets together we cook and eat delicious food, we laugh and have fun, and we enjoy and cherish each other’s company!
SweetStacks makes decadent, great tasting comfort foods: gourmet pancakes and fine Pacific Islander desserts from our secret family recipes. Our mission and passion is to provide our clients with authentic, high quality, great tasting, rich gourmet food products as well as provide excellent client service. It is our hope that they will enjoy our rich foods and then build their family traditions around our treasured sweetness.”
Elaine Babauta, left the corporate world after 20 years of service to finally become an entrepreneur in pursuing the dream of packaging her family’s Pacific Islander recipes that have been passed down through the generations and be able to share with others. Her mother, father, siblings and nieces and nephews are all actively involved in the company. For having taken a seed and nurtured it to fruition, we give the Seedling Award to Elaine. We wish the seedling to grow, produce more and develop into an orchard.
Order your own Sweetstacks! for your next family get together.
Passing Thoughts On Thinking
In the backyard of our first home there was an apple tree. Every year it
would flower and produce apples. They were Transparents, a tad on the
sour side and best suited for pies or apple sauce.
Under the tree we kept a few chairs so that we could sit in the shade and
watch as our children played in the yard. If alone I would take a book to
read, or pencil and notepaper to write. It was a good environment for thinking.
We sold the house long ago but I always remember the yard with the tree. Not long ago I drove past that first address to see if the neighborhood had changed, perhaps the house was no longer there as so much of our city is being “rebuilt.” What a surprise. The house still stood, still modest in stature but all gussied up and cared for. In fact the whole street had a bearing of pride and seemed to attract families with young children. I parked, got out and lingered a while. Peeked into the backyard, and yes, that old apple tree was still there.
These days with the children grown and gone, I have more time for reading --- something that gives me great pleasure. I like historical novels, literary
winners and books on growing our assets and personal development. I have
learned of the power of thought and learned too, that when we think, we
should think on purpose. My late friend and mentor, Dr. Alan Haynes always told me that I should set aside some time each day to just think --- but to “… think with purpose.”
At first I did not understand what it was that Alan meant. My thoughts were untamed and untrained flitting as they did from one subject to another not knowing where they came from. Then I got it. I can control my thoughts. I can decide that the next thirty minutes I am going to think about planning my upcoming holiday. Now that’s an easy one. It is easy to sit down with anticipation and decide on the date, the destination, research points of interest, pencil them into your itinerary. The mind is engaged with good thoughts. Intrusive thoughts seem to be kept at by.
Now try this with some other topic. If you own a business spend some time thinking about how to improve it, how to increase its bottom line, how to systemize it so that it can run without you. The choice of topics is as varied as your imagination.
The thing is that when you block off time to think, do so in a quiet place. No radio, no ipod, no TV. Change or create a suitable environment --- no matter where I am, when I do my thinking, I mentally transport myself under that old apple tree.
Recommended Reading: Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
would flower and produce apples. They were Transparents, a tad on the
sour side and best suited for pies or apple sauce.
Under the tree we kept a few chairs so that we could sit in the shade and
watch as our children played in the yard. If alone I would take a book to
read, or pencil and notepaper to write. It was a good environment for thinking.
We sold the house long ago but I always remember the yard with the tree. Not long ago I drove past that first address to see if the neighborhood had changed, perhaps the house was no longer there as so much of our city is being “rebuilt.” What a surprise. The house still stood, still modest in stature but all gussied up and cared for. In fact the whole street had a bearing of pride and seemed to attract families with young children. I parked, got out and lingered a while. Peeked into the backyard, and yes, that old apple tree was still there.
These days with the children grown and gone, I have more time for reading --- something that gives me great pleasure. I like historical novels, literary
winners and books on growing our assets and personal development. I have
learned of the power of thought and learned too, that when we think, we
should think on purpose. My late friend and mentor, Dr. Alan Haynes always told me that I should set aside some time each day to just think --- but to “… think with purpose.”
At first I did not understand what it was that Alan meant. My thoughts were untamed and untrained flitting as they did from one subject to another not knowing where they came from. Then I got it. I can control my thoughts. I can decide that the next thirty minutes I am going to think about planning my upcoming holiday. Now that’s an easy one. It is easy to sit down with anticipation and decide on the date, the destination, research points of interest, pencil them into your itinerary. The mind is engaged with good thoughts. Intrusive thoughts seem to be kept at by.
Now try this with some other topic. If you own a business spend some time thinking about how to improve it, how to increase its bottom line, how to systemize it so that it can run without you. The choice of topics is as varied as your imagination.
The thing is that when you block off time to think, do so in a quiet place. No radio, no ipod, no TV. Change or create a suitable environment --- no matter where I am, when I do my thinking, I mentally transport myself under that old apple tree.
Recommended Reading: Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
Thursday
Intentions are like Apple Seeds
Intentions are like apple seeds ... some fall on rock and never take root, some fall on dry land and without nourishment also shrivel away, and others having fallen on fertile ground, just hang around waiting for the right conditions to take root. AppleSeeds Grow falls into the last category.
What have I been doing for the last year and then some? Actually a lot - just neglected to post here. Over two years ago I decided that Internet Marketing was the direction I wanted to go. You see I already had a successful network marketing business that I built up the traditional way, and thought it was time to take it to the 'net.
Almost instantaneously I became a "Freebie Junkie" - I began to download every free offer out there. I believe that I have the largest library of free e.books and videos. Apparently there are others who claim title to the same distinction.
Hey! I have a marketing degree. The basics for marketing are the same. How much more difficult could it be to market on the internet, I thought. I'm smart. I'll just download all these free e.books, take the best information and develop an effective system to grow my business.
Apparently I am not as smart as I thought! I was in information overload and making little to no sense of it. There was no beginning, no middle and I certainly had no idea as to what the end was to look like. OK... I may not be as smart as I thought I was, but I'm no dummy either. It didn't take long for me to defer to the experts ... the smart ones who did make sense of internet marketing and were pulling in the big bucks ... so I bought my first course. That was the beginning of my internet marketing education. I am so proud of that first endeavour at ramping up my internet IQ. My "practicum" was a new online business, Sit BooBoo Sit, which is a continued work in progress. That was a little over a year ago. I have continued to educate myself and now that I know what I know, I know how little I know! It is so humbling. I figure that I am now half way through grade 1. Stay tuned as I share experiences, applaud success of others, and dispense with some wisdom on being well and wealthy.
What have I been doing for the last year and then some? Actually a lot - just neglected to post here. Over two years ago I decided that Internet Marketing was the direction I wanted to go. You see I already had a successful network marketing business that I built up the traditional way, and thought it was time to take it to the 'net.
Almost instantaneously I became a "Freebie Junkie" - I began to download every free offer out there. I believe that I have the largest library of free e.books and videos. Apparently there are others who claim title to the same distinction.
Hey! I have a marketing degree. The basics for marketing are the same. How much more difficult could it be to market on the internet, I thought. I'm smart. I'll just download all these free e.books, take the best information and develop an effective system to grow my business.
Apparently I am not as smart as I thought! I was in information overload and making little to no sense of it. There was no beginning, no middle and I certainly had no idea as to what the end was to look like. OK... I may not be as smart as I thought I was, but I'm no dummy either. It didn't take long for me to defer to the experts ... the smart ones who did make sense of internet marketing and were pulling in the big bucks ... so I bought my first course. That was the beginning of my internet marketing education. I am so proud of that first endeavour at ramping up my internet IQ. My "practicum" was a new online business, Sit BooBoo Sit, which is a continued work in progress. That was a little over a year ago. I have continued to educate myself and now that I know what I know, I know how little I know! It is so humbling. I figure that I am now half way through grade 1. Stay tuned as I share experiences, applaud success of others, and dispense with some wisdom on being well and wealthy.
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